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Essential Background
Dependent Territory
1) Hong Kong, as a Grown Golony enjoys preferential trading status with the UK and a substantial share of the UK markets for portable, clock and car radios and is now exporting increasing numbers of portable monochrome TVs and music centres. Even though the total volume of imports of the latter goods are still relatively small, the territory is the fastest growing source of consumer electronic imports into the UK.
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2) Hong Kong has an important and growing electronic goods manufacturing industry capable of producing large quantities of a comprehensive range of products. It is also served by a 625 line PAL colour TV system and hence, under the terms of the PAL colour TV manufacturing licences, is potentially able to export large numbers of receivers to the UK. We know of at least
one manufacturer of PAL receivers in Hong Kong.
3)
UK manufacturers associated in BREMA and the Radio Industries Council have been unable to negotiate Voluntary Restraint Agreements with the industry in Hong Kong where RIC's approaches have met with obfuscation. However, UK Industry and Trade Ministers have declared publically their support for VRAS as the best way of dealing with the problem of low cost imports and preventing the loss of essential UK industrial capacity. Such agreements have been negotiated successfully with several Far Eastern countries including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan etc, although difficulties are currently being experienced in agreeing satisfactory terms with Thailand.
4)
British Tradi
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Both ourselves and the UK-High Commission in Hong Kong believe that sets from Taiwan have been imported into Hong Kong, repacked there and re-exported to the UK with fraudulent certificates of origin. Japanese companies have complained to us that their branded products made to lower standards for less demanding markets than the UK's have been diverted to UK via Hong Kong. There is also a considerable discrepancy between the Hong Kong export statistics and UK import statistics. This matter is being investigated actively in UK Customs & Excise and their preliminary report. is expected in June. More vigorous action on the part of the Hong Kong
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